A comprehensive comparison between design for testability techniques for total dose testing of flash-based FPGAs

Radiation sources exist in different kinds of environments where electronic devices often operate. Correct device operation is usually affected negatively by radiation. The radiation resultant effect manifests in several forms depending on the operating environment of the device like total ionizing dose effect (TID), or single event effects (SEEs) such as single event upset (SEU), single event gate rupture (SEGR), and single event latch up (SEL). CMOS circuits and Floating gate MOS circuits suffer from an increase in the delay and the leakage current due to TID effect. This may damage the proper operation of the integrated circuit. Exhaustive testing is needed for devices operating in harsh conditions like space and military applications to ensure correct operations in the worst circumstances. The use of worst case test vectors (WCTVs) for testing is strongly recommended by MIL-STD-883, method 1019, which is the standard describing the procedure for testing electronic devices under radiation. However, the difficulty of generating these test vectors hinders their use in radiation testing. Testing digital circuits in the industry is usually done nowadays using design for testability (DFT) techniques as they are very mature and can be relied on. DFT techniques include, but not limited to, ad-hoc technique, built-in self test (BIST), muxed D scan, clocked scan and enhanced scan. DFT is usually used with automatic test patterns generation (ATPG) software to generate test vectors to test application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), especially with sequential circuits, against faults like stuck at faults and path delay faults. Despite all these recommendations for DFT, radiation testing has not benefited from this reliable technology yet. Also, with the big variation in the DFT techniques, choosing the right technique is the bottleneck to achieve the best results for TID testing. In this thesis, a comprehensive comparison between different DFT techniques for TID testing of flash-based FPGAs is made to help designers choose the best suitable DFT technique depending on their application. The comparison includes muxed D scan technique, clocked scan technique and enhanced scan technique. The comparison is done using ISCAS-89 benchmarks circuits. Points of comparisons include FPGA resources utilization, difficulty of designs bring-up, added delay by DFT logic and robust testable paths in each technique

The impact of alternative window glazing types and a shading system on the daylighting of hospital patient rooms: simulation analysis under a desert clear sky

This paper aimed at identifying the most effective glazing type that suits different patient room layouts under desert clear skies. Year-round daylighting performance of three glazing types was compared with that of a 45 degree sun breaker for three different patient room layouts. Simulations were conducted for rooms facing south in Cairo, Egypt. The daylighting performance of the tested glazing types was less than that of a sun breaker. Electrochromic-60 and lowE glazing were successful in the outboard bathroom design only, for large window sizes. The electrochromic-30 glass did not produce acceptable results in any of the tested cases

The Role of 3D CT Imaging in the Accurate Diagnosis of Lung Function in Coronavirus Patients

Early grading of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), as well as ventilator support machines, are prime ways to help the world fight this virus and reduce the mortality rate. To reduce the burden on physicians, we developed an automatic Computer-Aided Diagnostic (CAD) system to grade COVID-19 from Computed Tomography (CT) images. This system segments the lung region from chest CT scans using an unsupervised approach based on an appearance model, followed by 3D rotation invariant Markov–Gibbs Random Field (MGRF)-based morphological constraints. This system analyzes the segmented lung and generates precise, analytical imaging markers by estimating the MGRF-based analytical potentials. Three Gibbs energy markers were extracted from each CT scan by tuning the MGRF parameters on each lesion separately. The latter were healthy/mild, moderate, and severe lesions. To represent these markers more reliably, a Cumulative Distribution Function (CDF) was generated, then statistical markers were extracted from it, namely, 10th through 90th CDF percentiles with 10% increments. Subsequently, the three extracted markers were combined together and fed into a backpropagation neural network to make the diagnosis. The developed system was assessed on 76 COVID-19-infected patients using two metrics, namely, accuracy and Kappa. In this paper, the proposed system was trained and tested by three approaches. In the first approach, the MGRF model was trained and tested on the lungs. This approach achieved 95.83% accuracy and 93.39% kappa. In the second approach, we trained the MGRF model on the lesions and tested it on the lungs. This approach achieved 91.67% accuracy and 86.67% kappa. Finally, we trained and tested the MGRF model on lesions. It achieved 100% accuracy and 100% kappa. The results reported in this paper show the ability of the developed system to accurately grade COVID-19 lesions compared to other machine learning classifiers, such as k-Nearest Neighbor (KNN), decision tree, naïve Bayes, and random forest

Maxillary neoplasms in four dromedary camels

Four camels (Camelus dromedarius) presented to the Veterinary Teaching Hospital at King Faisal University with maxillary masses. On radiographs, the masses were multicystic and expanded the maxillary bone. The tumors were diagnosed by histopathologic examination as conventional ameloblastoma, two cases as intraosseous squamous cell carcinoma, and central odontogenic fibroma with ossification. To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first report of ameloblastoma in a camel, the first detailed description of maxillary squamous cell carcinoma in camels, and the first report of central odontogenic fibroma in any animal species

Collagen extract obtained from Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus L.) skin accelerates wound healing in rat model via up regulating VEGF, bFGF, and α-SMA genes expression

Background Collagen is the most abundant structural protein in the mammalian connective tissue and represents approximately 30% of animal protein. The current study evaluated the potential capacity of collagen extract derived from Nile tilapia skin in improving the cutaneous wound healing in rats and investigated the underlying possible mechanisms. A rat model was used, and the experimental design included a control group (CG) and the tilapia collagen treated group (TCG). Full-thickness wounds were conducted on the back of all the rats under general anesthesia, then the tilapia collagen extract was applied topically on the wound area of TCG. Wound areas of the two experimental groups were measured on days 0, 3, 6, 9, 12, and 15 post-wounding. The stages of the wound granulation tissues were detected by histopathologic examination and the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), and transforming growth factor (TGF-ß1) were investigated using immunohistochemistry. Moreover, relative gene expression analysis of transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-ß1), basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF), and alpha-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) were quantified by real-time qPCR. Results The histopathological assessment showed noticeable signs of skin healing in TCG compared to CG. Immunohistochemistry results revealed remarkable enhancement in the expression levels of VEGF and TGF-β1 in TCG. Furthermore, TCG exhibited marked upregulation in the VEGF, bFGF, and α-SMA genes expression. These findings suggested that the topical application of Nile tilapia collagen extract can promote the cutaneous wound healing process in rats, which could be attributed to its stimulating effect on recruiting and activating macrophages to produce chemotactic growth factors, fibroblast proliferation, and angiogenesis. Conclusions The collagen extract could, therefore, be a potential biomaterial for cutaneous wound healing therapeutics. Backgroun

Development of a Highly Sensitive Method for the Detection of Cryptosporidium parvum Virus Type 1 (CSpV1)

Poster Session

Evaluation of Rezum therapy as a minimally invasive modality for management of Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia: A prospective observational study

Objective: To evaluate safety and efficacy of Rezum therapy as a minimally invasive modality for management of benign prostatic hyperplasia in patients with prostate volume 80cc. Methods: Between June 2020 and February 2023, A total of 98 patients diagnosed with BPH and managed by Rezum were included in this study. Patients were divided based on their prostate volume of either less than 80 cc or greater than 80 cc. We evaluated several parameters related to their condition, including prostate volume, post-voiding residual (PVR) before and after surgery, number of treatments received, maximum urine flow rate (Qmax) before and after surgery and mean follow- up periods. Results: The mean age was 68 years (SD 11.2). The median prostatic volume was 62 cc (IQR 41, 17). A maximum of 9 treatments were administered. Six months was determined to be the average post-operative follow-up period (IQR: 3.5-7.2). The mean preoperative total PSA was 2.7 (IQR 1, 2), preoperative mean PVR was 79.8 cm3, preoperative mean Qmax was 8.2 ml/s (IQR 4.7-10.5), and median post-operative days until catheter removal was four days (IQR 3,1). Post-operative PVR was 24.7 cm3 (IQR 18.2, 29.4) and the mean post-operative Qmax was 18.3 ml/s (SD 6.3). Qmax levels significantly increased, by an average of 8.2 ml/s (SD 7.13) (p < 0.001). Similarly, a decrease of average PVR of 97.28 cm3 (SD 95.85) (p < 0.001) was detected, which is a substantial reduction. Between prostates less 80cc and those over 80cc, there were no appreciable differences in Qmax or PVR (p-values: 0.435 and 0.431, respectively). Conclusions: From our study, we conclude that Rezum water vapor thermal therapy, as a minimally invasive modality, is an effective and safe surgical option for management of benign prostatic hyperplasia of men with moderate to severe lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS). This procedure has been shown to be effective in patients with varying larger prostate volumes

Antimicrobial resistance among migrants in Europe: a systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND: Rates of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) are rising globally and there is concern that increased migration is contributing to the burden of antibiotic resistance in Europe. However, the effect of migration on the burden of AMR in Europe has not yet been comprehensively examined. Therefore, we did a systematic review and meta-analysis to identify and synthesise data for AMR carriage or infection in migrants to Europe to examine differences in patterns of AMR across migrant groups and in different settings. METHODS: For this systematic review and meta-analysis, we searched MEDLINE, Embase, PubMed, and Scopus with no language restrictions from Jan 1, 2000, to Jan 18, 2017, for primary data from observational studies reporting antibacterial resistance in common bacterial pathogens among migrants to 21 European Union-15 and European Economic Area countries. To be eligible for inclusion, studies had to report data on carriage or infection with laboratory-confirmed antibiotic-resistant organisms in migrant populations. We extracted data from eligible studies and assessed quality using piloted, standardised forms. We did not examine drug resistance in tuberculosis and excluded articles solely reporting on this parameter. We also excluded articles in which migrant status was determined by ethnicity, country of birth of participants' parents, or was not defined, and articles in which data were not disaggregated by migrant status. Outcomes were carriage of or infection with antibiotic-resistant organisms. We used random-effects models to calculate the pooled prevalence of each outcome. The study protocol is registered with PROSPERO, number CRD42016043681. FINDINGS: We identified 2274 articles, of which 23 observational studies reporting on antibiotic resistance in 2319 migrants were included. The pooled prevalence of any AMR carriage or AMR infection in migrants was 25·4% (95% CI 19·1-31·8; I2 =98%), including meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (7·8%, 4·8-10·7; I2 =92%) and antibiotic-resistant Gram-negative bacteria (27·2%, 17·6-36·8; I2 =94%). The pooled prevalence of any AMR carriage or infection was higher in refugees and asylum seekers (33·0%, 18·3-47·6; I2 =98%) than in other migrant groups (6·6%, 1·8-11·3; I2 =92%). The pooled prevalence of antibiotic-resistant organisms was slightly higher in high-migrant community settings (33·1%, 11·1-55·1; I2 =96%) than in migrants in hospitals (24·3%, 16·1-32·6; I2 =98%). We did not find evidence of high rates of transmission of AMR from migrant to host populations. INTERPRETATION: Migrants are exposed to conditions favouring the emergence of drug resistance during transit and in host countries in Europe. Increased antibiotic resistance among refugees and asylum seekers and in high-migrant community settings (such as refugee camps and detention facilities) highlights the need for improved living conditions, access to health care, and initiatives to facilitate detection of and appropriate high-quality treatment for antibiotic-resistant infections during transit and in host countries. Protocols for the prevention and control of infection and for antibiotic surveillance need to be integrated in all aspects of health care, which should be accessible for all migrant groups, and should target determinants of AMR before, during, and after migration. FUNDING: UK National Institute for Health Research Imperial Biomedical Research Centre, Imperial College Healthcare Charity, the Wellcome Trust, and UK National Institute for Health Research Health Protection Research Unit in Healthcare-associated Infections and Antimictobial Resistance at Imperial College London

Surgical site infection after gastrointestinal surgery in high-income, middle-income, and low-income countries: a prospective, international, multicentre cohort study

Background: Surgical site infection (SSI) is one of the most common infections associated with health care, but its importance as a global health priority is not fully understood. We quantified the burden of SSI after gastrointestinal surgery in countries in all parts of the world. Methods: This international, prospective, multicentre cohort study included consecutive patients undergoing elective or emergency gastrointestinal resection within 2-week time periods at any health-care facility in any country. Countries with participating centres were stratified into high-income, middle-income, and low-income groups according to the UN's Human Development Index (HDI). Data variables from the GlobalSurg 1 study and other studies that have been found to affect the likelihood of SSI were entered into risk adjustment models. The primary outcome measure was the 30-day SSI incidence (defined by US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention criteria for superficial and deep incisional SSI). Relationships with explanatory variables were examined using Bayesian multilevel logistic regression models. This trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT02662231. Findings: Between Jan 4, 2016, and July 31, 2016, 13 265 records were submitted for analysis. 12 539 patients from 343 hospitals in 66 countries were included. 7339 (58·5%) patient were from high-HDI countries (193 hospitals in 30 countries), 3918 (31·2%) patients were from middle-HDI countries (82 hospitals in 18 countries), and 1282 (10·2%) patients were from low-HDI countries (68 hospitals in 18 countries). In total, 1538 (12·3%) patients had SSI within 30 days of surgery. The incidence of SSI varied between countries with high (691 [9·4%] of 7339 patients), middle (549 [14·0%] of 3918 patients), and low (298 [23·2%] of 1282) HDI (p < 0·001). The highest SSI incidence in each HDI group was after dirty surgery (102 [17·8%] of 574 patients in high-HDI countries; 74 [31·4%] of 236 patients in middle-HDI countries; 72 [39·8%] of 181 patients in low-HDI countries). Following risk factor adjustment, patients in low-HDI countries were at greatest risk of SSI (adjusted odds ratio 1·60, 95% credible interval 1·05–2·37; p=0·030). 132 (21·6%) of 610 patients with an SSI and a microbiology culture result had an infection that was resistant to the prophylactic antibiotic used. Resistant infections were detected in 49 (16·6%) of 295 patients in high-HDI countries, in 37 (19·8%) of 187 patients in middle-HDI countries, and in 46 (35·9%) of 128 patients in low-HDI countries (p < 0·001). Interpretation: Countries with a low HDI carry a disproportionately greater burden of SSI than countries with a middle or high HDI and might have higher rates of antibiotic resistance. In view of WHO recommendations on SSI prevention that highlight the absence of high-quality interventional research, urgent, pragmatic, randomised trials based in LMICs are needed to assess measures aiming to reduce this preventable complication